Q: In Jo, what can we learn from this book?
A: Joel is prophesying that the army of locusts that invaded the land is just a prelude to the invasion of a foreign army because of Israel's sin. This in turn is a prelude to the Day of the Lord in the last days.
Likewise God sometimes sends milder discipline to people as an "encouragement to repent" prior to sending a much more severe discipline, or even destruction. See 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.202 for more info.

Q: In Jo, what is an outline of the book?
A: Based on common elements from eight different sources, here is a high-level outline.
1 Recent Locust Invasion
2 The Coming Day of the Lord
2:1-11 The Future Invasion
2:12-17 Repent
2:18-27 Future Restoration
2:28-32 Pouring out of God’s Spirit
3 Final Judgment and Restoration

Q: In Jo 1:1, when was the book of Joel written?
A: There is nothing internally or externally to pinpoint the time. Here are three possibilities.
1. Ninth century
The NIV Study Bible p.1339 says a good case can be made for this time.
2. Late-preExilic (597-587 B.C.)
1a. 10,000 men of Judah were deported in 597 B.C. (2 Kings 24:10-16) Also, Jews had been enslaved for years (See the discussion on Joel 3:6).
1b. Future mercy on Judah in Joel 2:12-20.
1c. The Temple was still standing (Joel 1:13)
1d. Future sudden destruction of Jerusalem.
3. Post-exilic (after 587 B.C.)
2a. Many more were enslaved in 587 B.C.
2b. Some see in Joel 2:12-20 God promising mercy to those individuals, not their descendants.
The skeptical work, Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.630 believes it is the post-exilic. However, he justifies this based on Joel 3:6, where God’s people were sold to the Greeks. Since the Greeks were known to Moses, and were in Greece prior to Moses, this evidence does not support a late date. See the discussion on Joel 3:6 for more info.

Q: In Jo 1:8, why would a virgin grieve for her husband?
A: Zion would mourn as a young bride or betrothed bride would lament over the death of her new husband or fiancée.

Q: In Jo 1:12 (KJV), what does "languisheth" mean?
A: It means to "waste away".

Q: In Jo 1:15, what will the Day of the Lord be like?
A: A "Day of the Lord" is a rather short period of time, but it is longer than one 24-hour day. There was a Day of the Lord at Christ’s first coming (Acts 2:20), and there will be another Day of the Lord at Christ’s Second Coming. Interpreters disagree on the exact beginning and ending of the Day of the Lord in the Book of Revelation, but Revelation speaks about this time. See Hard Sayings of the Bible p.327-328, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1412-1413, and 735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered p.202 for more info.

Q: In Jo 2:1-11, when will this Day of the Lord occur?
A: This occurs in Revelation when the Lord comes to execute judgment. This sounds like it is the same event described in Psalm 50:3 and Jude. The skeptical work Asimov’s Guide to the Bible p.632 also accepts that this refers to the end times.

Q: In Jo 2:17, what is the significance of weeping between the porch and the altar?
A: The priests went between the porch and the altar, and this would refer to weeping by the priests.

Q: In Jo 2:20, which army is this?
A: This is an army with evil intent that surrounds Jerusalem. This may have one fulfillment prior to the millennium (Revelation 16:12-16; 19:19), and a second fulfillment after the millennium (Revelation 20:7-10).

Q: In Jo 2:28-32, was this fulfilled at the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:16?
A: This happens on the Day of the Lord. To answer this, you have to know about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord came when Jesus came to earth. The Day of the Lord is also a future time when Jesus comes again.
Many prophecies, including this one, have a dual fulfillment. They were fulfilled at Jesus first coming, they will be fulfilled again at the Second Coming of Christ.
See The Complete Book of Bible Answers p.90 for more info.

Q: Do Jo 2:30-32 and Mt 24:29-30 refer to Moses, Christ, and Mohammed, their teachings originally being a sun, but they all being darkened by corruption later on? This is what Baha’is teach in Baha’u’llah and the New Era p.277-278.
A: No. Not only will Christ come in the literal clouds, as Acts 1:9-11 shows, but God Almighty can darken the sun and moon and He will do so. You do not have the luxury of just calling anything figurative that you want to not be true.

Q: In Jo 3:1-12, when will the judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat occur?
A: This will happen prior to the Millennium at the end of the seven-year Great Tribulation. For a sequence of events, see the discussion on the book of Revelation. The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1319-1322 has a very extensive chart harmonizing the scriptures relating to the endtimes.

Q: In Jo 3:1-12, which Biblical verses are post-millennial, and which are pre-millennial?
A: Genuine Christians who are amillennialists believe the millennium is happening right now in Heaven, and descriptions before and after the millennium are referring to the same events. They believe that a key shortcoming of the premillennial view is differentiating what is before the millennium from what is after it.
A simple response, taken very loosely from The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.1319-1322, is that all events amillennialists question are premillennial, except for the following Post-Millennial events:
Everything in Revelation 20
Evil angels judged 1 Corinthians 6:3
Wicked resurrected. Daniel 12:2, John 5:29
Since Revelation 20:7-10 refers to Gog and Magog, some believe other references to God and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39 are post-millennial. Others believe pre-millennial.

Q: In Jo 3:4-8, why did the Phoenicians sell Jews as slaves?
A: They were merchants, and they apparently would buy and resell anybody as a slave. Joel is remarking on this, because the Phoenicians and Israelites was always allies and helped each other out before.

Q: In Jo 3:6, does the mention of Jews among the Greek lands indicate a post-exilic date?
A: No. Arvid S. Kapelrud mentions that there was an active slave trade in the 6th and 7th centuries B.C. (Joel Studies p.154-158). The Mycenaean Greeks came to Greece a little before Moses’ time.
Old Testament scholar Gleason Archer in Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.296 mentions that Greek coins from the late 6th century were found in Palestine from the issues of Peristratus, which would be prior to the exile. After listing numerous references to Greek mercenaries in Neo-Babylonian documents, he concludes "In light of such data as these, it is nothing short of naïve to suppose that a late ninth-century Joel could not have known anything about the Greeks, or to imagine that no slave-traders ever went to Greek ports with captives from Near Eastern slave raids."
This wording, of the people of Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistines selling Jews to the Greeks , that they might be sent far away actually show a date prior to Alexander the Great. As When Critics Ask p.301 points out, in Alexander’s time the Greeks already controlled the Mideast so they would not be going far away. All of the people of Tyre were sold into slavery by Alexander, so they were in no position to sell slaves to the Greeks themselves.
See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament for more info. See the discussion on Joel 1:1 for the date.

Q: In Jo 3:8, what do we know about the Sabaeans?
A: These people lived in the southwest part of the Arabian peninsula, and include the modern nation of Yemen. The ancient kingdom of Sheba was there.
The Encyclopedia Britannica volume 1 (1956) p.678-682 shows the Sabaean (Himyaritic) alphabet with 28 letters. It shows there are roughly 4 similar letters between it and the Brahmi alphabet of India, and 5 similar letters between it and the Aramaic alphabet. It has 18 similar letters with the oldest Ethiopic and 24 similar letters with Libyanic. It has 21 similar letters to Thamudenic and 12 similar letters with Safahitic in Egypt.

Q: In Jo 3:10, why will the some nations gather to fight against Israel?
A: This happens two times: prior to the Millennium (Armageddon) and after the Millennium (Gog and Magog). Because these battles happen before and after, some Christians, called amillennialists, believe the 1,000 year millennium is symbolic and taking place in Heaven right now, and the two "battles" are simply two descriptions of the same great battle.

Q: In Jo 3:12, does God sit to judge, or does he stand to judge as Isa 3:13 says?
A: Since God is not restricted to a physical human body, these are both metaphors. However, if you want to differentiate, When Critics Ask p.301 points out that God "sits" to hear everyone impartially and "stands" to execute judgment.

Q: In Jo 3:19, when will Egypt be desolate?
A: The events in Joel 3 occur at the endtimes.

Q: In Jo 3:21, when will God cleanse Judah’s blood?
A: This happens in the endtimes, when Judah returns to God. This is probably the same event as Zechariah 12:10-13:1.

Q: In Jo, what are some of the earliest manuscripts that still exist today?
A: Dead Sea scrolls: (c.1 B.C.) There is 1 copy of Joel among the Dead Sea scrolls, called 4Q78 (=4QXIIc) containing Joel 1:10-20; 2:1,8-23; 4:6-21 plus other minor prophets. (The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated p.479).
Nahal Hever is a cave near Engedi, that has a fragment of the minor prophets in Greek (8 Hev XIIgr) contained Joel 1:12-14; 2:2-13; 4:4-9,11-14,17,19-20. According to Manuscripts of the Greek Bible p.34, was written between 50 B.C. and 50 A.D.. It was hidden during the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome. It is a revision of the Septuagint, made in Judea, and almost identical to the Massoretic text.
The wadi Murabb'at scroll of the Minor Prophets (Mur XII) is from c.132 A.D. It contains Joel 2:20,26-27; 3:1-5; 4:1-16 plus other minor prophets.
Christian Bible manuscripts, from about 350 A.D., contain the Old Testament, including Joel. Two of these are Vaticanus (325-250 A.D.) and Alexandrinus (c.450 A.D.), where the books of the twelve minor prophets were placed before Isaiah. Joel is complete in both Vaticanus and Alexandrinus.
We do not have any leaves of this book preserved from Sinaiticus.

Q: Who are some of the early writers who referred to Joel?
A: Pre-Nicene writers who referenced or alluded to verses in Joel are:
Justin Martyr (138-165 A.D.)
Theophilus of Antioch (168-181/188 A.D.)
Irenaeus of Lyons (182-188 A.D.)
Tertullian (200-240 A.D.)
Clement of Alexandria (193-217-220 A.D.)
Origen (225-254 A.D.)
Novatian (250/254-256/7 A.D.)
Anonymous Treatise Against Novatian (c.248-258 A.D.)
Cyprian (248-258 A.D.)
Methodius of Olympus and Patara (260-312 A.D.)

Q: In Jo, what are some of the translation differences between the Hebrew and Greek Septuagint?
A: Here are the differences between first the Massoretic text and the Septuagint for Joel 2:1-17.
Joel 1:18 "suffer punishment" vs. "are made desolate" (Septuagint, Vulgate)
Joel 2:2 "thick darkness" vs. "mist"
Joel 2:2 "people" vs. "people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning"
Joel 2:3 "paradise of Eden" vs. "paradise of delight"
Joel 2:4 "run" vs. "pursue"
Joel 2:6 "all faces collect heat" vs. "every face shall be as the blackness of a caldron." (Septuagint, Targums, Vulgate)
Joel 2:8 add "and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighted down with their arms"
Joel 2:11 "terrifying/fearful" vs. "glorious
Joel 2:11 "endure it" vs. "resist it"
Joel 2:15 "gather the children, gather the infants" vs. "gather the infants"
Joel 2:17 "for a proverb among those of the nations" vs. "that the heathen should rule over them"
Bibliography for this question: the Hebrew translation is from Jay P. Green’s Literal Translation and the Septuagint rendering is from Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton’s translation of The Septuagint : Greek and English. The Expositor's Bible Commentary and the footnotes in the NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV Bibles also were used.